Quick and Dirty Photo Tour of Camp Skeletor

Opening Day--Basic Weapons Familiarization; here are 5 of the 23 weapon systems that we reviewed.

Annatrocity learning the ropes on the F2000

MagnumSwag on the MP5-N

Money on the AR15

ThatdamnHewitt explaining the merits of the HK93

Tacman demonstrating the SCAR-L

Afterwards, a lecture on weapons handling, rifle/pistol presentation, rifle/pistol combat reloads, tactical reloads (with retention), and clearing malfunctions.
We then moved to "action stations" where participants could practice the pistol/rifle reloads and malfunction clearances, practiced tactical movement in lateral/linear paths, practiced stacking for CQB/Room Entry, Reviewed the necessary angles to winning gunfights, as well as an intro to combat shotguns, reloading them, and clearing common malfunctions. We closed with a demonstration for each participant of the "21 Foot Rule", courtesy of Wezuri and his 10,000 volt shock knife. Here Wezuri poses after being shot...A LOT.

Here's a pic of the drill in action, where the shooter has to draw suddenly, get the weapon on target, and fire twice into the chest of the bad guy advancing with the shock knife. The shooter could move laterally or try to put obstacles between him and the approaching knifer---NwP looks like here he's about to eat about 10,000 volts of pure fun!

We then returned for a lecture on the intro to CQB and Cover/Concealment survival techniques. Afterwards, we returned outside for a little groundfighting exercise. The participant was the victim of a gang attack and had to fight off three attackers on the ground and either try to get to a position of advantage or escape for 30 seconds. Afterwards, they were released and they had to run 2 yards to their handgun, and fire double taps on two rapidly approaching thugs before they had the weapon taken away from them or secured back on the ground.

Here's BJJ practitioner, JNP engaging in a forward ninja-roll (isn't there a law against that?) to secure his handgun before double-tapping one goon and shooting the other (Sorry, MagnumSwag) point-blank in the armpit:

Plasma gives it a go, and probably gives the best showing of all:

Chainpunch the Ninja grabs his pistol just as MagnumSwag closes in:

But alas, MagnumSwag received another controlled pair of shots to his chest (point blank) before Chainpunch unloads a vicious double-tap on Wounded Ronin:

We then broke for dinner and returned for some Defensive Tactics training which focused on pistol/rifle retention, controlling bad guys with guns, and pistol/rifle takeaways (in the most gravest extreme). We then moved on to a low-light survival lecture which involved everything from flashlight techniques, physiology of the human eye, choosing a flashlight, and employing them in a CQB environment. A sudden rainstorm stopped our practical exercises...which we made up first thing in the morning.

Here we are..setting up at the training building:

Orientation continuing 2 stories beneath the Earth in near total darkness:

One group began on working the dangers of long hallways...here, Wounded Ronin, Annatrocity, and Kid Spatula get ready to move down a hallway.

Kid Spatula holds cover down a long stretch of dangerous hallway:

Plasma, Wounded Ronin, and JNP begin to make room entry:

Another group works on two-man and later, 5 man stairs drills...covering the danger areas:
NwP and Wounded Ronin on the staircase

JnP, NwP, Annatrocity, Kid Spatula, and Money heading up the steps. Guess who isn't watching his area of responsibility?! LOL

Another group was just getting started on Room Clearing exercises when we had a chance for a small break--Emetshamash, Annatrocity, JnP, NwP, and Wounded Ronin take a break:

We then took it downstairs for an introduction to low light searching and big room clearing. Here, Emetshamash, Iniquity, and JnP fight for dominance of the next room.

We then practiced that for some time...working until damn near 1030PM.

Our third day of CQB training began with "Force on Force" or "active badguy training." We removed the participants from the familiar training portions of the building and into new areas which they hadn't seen. We then introduced a handful of badguys into each of these areas...some armed, some unarmed. Participants were expected to use appropriate levels of force and only shoot when their lives (or a teammate's life) were endangered. Some bad guys had guns, others had rubber knives (or a shock knife!), and hid themselves in the area (some---too well).

Stick predicted an early victory and attempted to menace the evil role players with his awesome physique, glorious pose, and four handguns strapped to his body:

The teams were split into groups of six and were tasked with clearing up/down steps, interconnecting rooms, long hallways, dark areas which required flashlights, and some very large rooms. When nightfall came---we combined the teams into one large team and hit the catacombs.

NwP's scream of pain and suffering echoed throughout the dark, cavernous training area in this particular sub-basement---some 50 feet underground. Everyone was given an opportunity to lead the team into the bowels of hell, with leadership being randomly assigned during key points of the exercise.

Force on force training continued til about 1030PM. After the team finished up, we prepared for a trip to the gun range on the final day.
We took the obligatory picture and awarded the serial killer award to chainpunch. The knife we gave him was a rusted, bloody gutting knife found in one of the sub-basements. It seemed fitting, considering the high body count of campers that he eliminated.

Final day on the gun range:

Here's the group pic:

Plasma on the firing line with his Israeli pistol:

Money rockin' out on the F2000

After allowing the campers to blast away with pretty much any weapon that I happened to bring/they brought with them, we set up a couple of tactical, IDPA-style mini-stages for them to shoot, including a linear gauntlet for them to run.

Kid Spatula running the "gauntlet" with her SIG226

Wounded Ronin taking his turn on the Gauntlet

We have tons more pics thanks to Stick and Wezuri...I'll be posting Wezuri's pics when he gets them to me. Hope you guys enjoy and get a small idea of some of the things that we got into!

I actually fell on my ass while trying to back off from the shock knife in the "21 foot" drill". But i still put shots center mass on the way down and once I hit the ground. I was embarrassed but remained un-shocked.

Skeletor and I were playing Borderlands the night before the training started, actually. Wonder if we can get some audio of Wezuri demanding a pound of flesh? btw, in the two man staircase clear pic, that's me with my back turned, not Wounded Ronin. Stick, you should definitely finish your article. Skeletor's is, as he put it, a quick and dirty version. I'd definitely like to see the polished long form version you're likely to put together.